A decorative earring structure in the form of an elongated wire piece having contiguous wire piece sections including at least a proximal top wire piece section that is in the form of a wire piece arcuate loop that is constructed and arranged to extend over, about and behind the ear of a wearer, and a distal turned wire piece section that is constructed and arranged for positioning behind the ear lobe. A support receptacle is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece and disposed at a back side of the ear lobe, and a support post is disposed at a front side of the ear lobe, engageable with the support receptacle and for retaining the decorative earring structure in place.
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1. A decorative caning structure in the form of an elongated wire piece having contiguous wire piece sections including at least a proximal top wire piece section that is in the form of a wire piece arcuate loop that is constructed and arranged to extend over, about and behind the ear of a wearer, and a distal turned wire piece section that is constructed and arranged for positioning behind the ear lobe, a support receptacle that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece and disposed at a back side of the ear lobe, and a support post disposed at a front side of the ear lobe, engageable with the support receptacle and for retaining the decorative earring structure in place, the free end of the distal turned wire piece being hollow so as to receive the support post.
14. A decorative earring structure in the form of an elongated wire piece having contiguous wire piece sections including at least a proximal top wire piece section that is in the form of a wire piece arcuate loop that is constructed and arranged to extend over, about and behind the ear of a wearer, and a distal turned wire piece section that is constructed and arranged for positioning behind the ear lobe, a combination post and backing that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece and disposed about the ear lobe for retaining the decorative earring structure in place supported from the ear lobe, and further including a first lower decorative item supported at the combination post and backing, and an upper decorative item supported at a free end of proximal top wire section, wherein the backing comPrises a support receptacle including a planar support disc that is disposed against a back side of the ear lobe, wherein the distal turned wire piece has a free end that extends orthogonal to the planar support disc and engages with the bucking.
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Priority for this application is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to commonly owned and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/207,322 which was filed on Feb. 23, 2021 and which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a decorative earring, and particularly to a decorative earring structure that enables a wide variety of display options.
Existing earrings are for the most part supported at a pierced hole in the lobe of the user's ear. The amount and size of decorative items that can be supported is somewhat limited so that damage does not occur to the ear lobe.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved decorative earring structure in which there is, not only support at the ear lobe, but support by means of an elongated wire piece from a top portion of the outer ear.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved decorative earring structure that enables decorative items to be supported both at the ear lobe as well as at a front top portion of the outer ear.
To accomplish the foregoing and other objects of the present invention there is provided a decorative earring structure in the form of an elongated wire piece having contiguous wire piece sections including at least a proximal top wire piece section that is in the form of a wire piece arcuate loop that is constructed and arranged to extend over, about and behind the ear of a wearer, and a distal turned wire piece section that is constructed and arranged for positioning behind the ear lobe, a support receptacle that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece and disposed at a back side of the ear lobe, and a support post disposed at a front side of the ear lobe; engageable with the support receptacle and for retaining the decorative earring structure in place.
In accordance with other aspects of the present invention the support post includes a decorative item; the decorative item is spherical; the decorative item includes a series of separate decorative items that fall under gravity from the support post; the proximal top wire section has a free end that extends toward the back of the ear; the support post includes a first decorative item, and the free end of proximal top wire section supports a second decorative item; the elongated wire piece also includes a contiguous intermediate wire piece section that transitions between the proximal top wire piece section and the distal turned wire piece section; the elongated wire piece also includes a contiguous intermediate wire piece section that transitions between the proximal top wire piece section and the distal turned wire piece section; the intermediate wire piece section is defined by a reverse curve forming with the proximal top wire piece section a question mark shape; and wherein the elongated wire piece is constructed of a pliable plastic piece that has limited stretchability.
In accordance with another version of the present invention there is provided a decorative earring structure in the form of an elongated wire piece having contiguous wire piece sections including at least a proximal top wire piece section that is in the form of a wire piece arcuate loop that is constructed and arranged to extend over, about and behind the ear of a wearer, and a distal turned wire piece section that is constructed and arranged for positioning behind the ear lobe, a combination post and backing that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece and disposed about the ear lobe for retaining the decorative earring structure in place supported from the ear lobe, and further including a first decorative item supported at the combination post and backing, and a second decorative item supported at a free end of proximal top wire section.
In accordance with still other aspects of the present invention the combination post and backing is comprised of a support receptacle that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece and disposed at a back side of the ear lobe, and a support post disposed at a front side of the ear lobe, engageable with the support receptacle and for retaining the decorative earring structure in place; the first decorative item is spherical; the first decorative item includes a series of separate decorative items that fall under gravity from the support post; the elongated wire piece also includes a contiguous intermediate wire piece section that transitions between the proximal top wire piece section and the distal turned wire piece section; the intermediate wire piece section is defined by a reverse curve forming with the proximal top wire piece section a question mark shape; and wherein the elongated wire piece is constructed of a pliable plastic piece that has limited stretchability.
In accordance with the present invention there is also provided a method of mounting a decorative earring structure about a wearers ear comprising providing an elongated wire piece having contiguous wire piece sections including at least a proximal top wire piece section that is in the form of a wire piece arcuate loop, arranging the wire piece arcuate loop to extend over, about and behind the ear of the wearer, and a distal turned wire piece section that is constructed and arranged for positioning behind the ear lobe, and providing a combination post and backing that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece and disposed about the ear lobe for retaining the decorative earring structure in place supported from the ear lobe.
In accordance with other aspects of the present invention including providing a contiguous intermediate wire piece section that transitions between the proximal top wire piece section and the distal turned wire piece section, wherein the intermediate wire piece section is defined by a reverse curve forming with the proximal top wire piece section a question mark shape; and including providing a first decorative item supported at the combination post and backing, and a second decorative item supported at a free end of proximal top wire section.
It should be understood that the drawings are provided for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to define the limits of the disclosure. The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the embodiments described herein will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
One of the unique features of the decorative earring structure of the present invention is to provide a support for not only a lower decorative item 52 but also an upper decorative item 11. Because the lower decorative item is generally supported at a hole in the ear lobe, one is limited in the amount of weight that can be carried by the lower decorative item. This in turn limits the selection of a decorative item. The support is supplemented by means of elongated wire piece 20. Refer, for example, to
The elongated wire piece 20 is preferably formed in a fixed position so as to extend about the outer ear. The elongated wire piece 20 may be constructed of a metal wire or virtually any other elongated piece that can assume and stay in a relatively fixed position. In addition to constructing the elongated wire piece of a metal material it can also be constructed, for example, of a silicone material.
With further reference to the drawings, there is provided a decorative earring structure 10 in the form of an elongated wire piece 20 having contiguous wire piece sections including at least a proximal top wire piece section 22. This proximal top wire piece section is preferably in the form of a wire piece arcuate loop 24. This loop is constructed and arranged to extend over, about and behind the ear of a wearer.
The elongated wire piece 20 also has a distal turned wire piece section 26 that is constructed and arranged for positioning behind the ear lobe at the back side 16. In this regard refer to
The decorative earring structure is also comprised of a support receptacle 40 that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece. The support receptacle is disposed at a back side 16 of the ear lobe.
The decorative earring structure is also comprised of a support post 50 disposed at the front side 18 of the ear lobe. The support post is meant to be engageable with the support receptacle for retaining the decorative earring structure in place. In this regard refer to the cross-sectional view of
As illustrated in the drawings herein, the lower decorative piece 11 may be in the form of a pearl or any other decorative item and is illustrated herein, such as in
The elongated wire piece may also be considered as including a contiguous intermediate wire piece section that transitions between the proximal top wire piece section and the distal turned wire piece section. The intermediate wire piece section 30 is defined by a reverse curve 32 forming with the proximal top wire piece section 22 a question mark shape 34.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, at the lower end of the elongated wire piece 20, there may be provided a combination post and backing that is disposed at a free end of the distal turned wire piece. In this regard, a first decorative item is supported at the combination post and backing, and a second decorative item is supported at a free end of the proximal top wire piece section.
In
Having now described a limited number of embodiments of the present invention, it should now be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous other embodiments and modifications thereof are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.
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